Wednesday, 18 February 2015

An organic market in my hood...

I live in a great neighbourhood in this gorgeous city of Cape Town, called Oranjezicht (orange view in Dutch).

Situated beneath Table Mountain, it's an old suburb that was built on the site of the old Oranjezicht farm, which used to stretch at least as far as the Mount Nelson Hotel and supplied the Castle of Good Hope with fresh produce.

My hood is great for walkabouts, for getting in touch with Nature like at De Waal Park, or when taking an amble around the Molteno Road reservoir. Noisy hadidas and geese are all over the place, even owls - it's fabulous.

One of my best things to do on the weekend is visit the Oranjezicht City Farm. Initially this was in Upper Orange Street until some or other drama closed it down which was bleak until our Premier, Helen Zille stepped up and offered the gardens of her Official Residence as an alternative: Leeuwenhof. I mean really, she did that and it is magnificent! At first I was reluctant to go, thinking nothing could beat ye olde Cape Dutch charm of the previous location but this is vastly different and no comparison. Massive rolling lawns to lie on, picnic, play... a pool for the kids, tennis courts... and of course all the delish food and fresh organic produce I've come to love so much.

And as always, kudos to Sheryl Ozinsky, who got this all going in the first place. She and her team are amazing.

Be sure to stop by any Saturday between 09:00 and 14:30. Needing directions? Just ask anyone where Zille Villa is and voila!